A prize of $15,000 is given annually for a debut novel by an American citizen or permanent resident published in the United States during the award year. Six finalists receive...
read moreWriting Contests, Grants & Awards
The Writing Contests, Grants & Awards database includes details about the creative writing contests—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, and more—that we’ve published in Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it. Ours is the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.
The Center for Fiction
Cash Prize: $15,000
Entry Fee: $100
Application Deadline: 3/13/26
Genre: Fiction
Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 3/14/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Andrew Schelling will judge. Submit up to three poems of no more than three pages each with a $10 entry fee by March 14....
read moreBellingham Review
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellingham Review are given annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The Parallel Award for...
read moreAirlie Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Airlie Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a...
read moreJames Jones Literary Society
Cash Prize: $12,000
Entry Fee: $33
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Fiction
A fellowship of $12,000 is given annually for a novel-in-progress that honors “the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified...
read moreVerse
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $17
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Factory Hollow Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner also receives an invitation to give a reading at the Tomaž Šalamun...
read morePrairie Schooner
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Two prizes of $3,000 each and publication by University of Nebraska Press are given annually for a poetry collection and a story collection. Submit a poetry manuscript of at...
read moreBroadside Lotus Press
Cash Prize: $500
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $500 and publication by Broadside Lotus Press is given annually for a poetry collection by an African American poet. Submit two copies of a manuscript of...
read morePersea Books
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Persea Books is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet who is a U.S. citizen or resides in the United States and who has...
read moreVanderbilt University Press
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $25
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry
An award of $10,000 and publication by Vanderbilt University Press will be given annually for a poetry collection. The winner will also receive a weeklong residency at...
read moreIowa City UNESCO City of Literature
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/15/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $25,000 is given annually to a writer “who, like Paul Engle, represents a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or...
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $4,000
Entry Fee: $50
Application Deadline: 3/16/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
Two prizes of $4,000 each are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of prose translated from any language into English and published in the previous year....
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/16/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction translated from Basque, Catalan, Galician, or Spanish into English and written by an author of Spanish...
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/16/26
Genre: Poetry, Translation
A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a poetry collection or a text from Zen Buddhism translated from an Asian language into English and published in the previous year....
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $5,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/16/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
A prize of $5,000 is given annually for a book of fiction or nonfiction translated from Italian into English and published in the previous year. Publishers or translators may...
read moreAmerican Literary Translators Association
Cash Prize: $3,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/16/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Translation
A prize of $3,000 is given annually for a debut poetry collection, book of fiction, or book of creative nonfiction translated from any language into English and published in...
read moreDAG Foundation
Cash Prize: $20,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/18/26
Genre: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
A prize of $20,000 will be given annually to support work on a second book of fiction or creative nonfiction by an emerging writer who “expands the possibilities for American...
read moreNational Poetry Series
Cash Prize: $10,000
Entry Fee: $35
Application Deadline: 3/21/26
Genre: Poetry
Five prizes of $10,000 each and publication by participating trade, university, or small press publishers are given annually for poetry collections by U.S. poets. Using only...
read moreBlack Lawrence Press
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Cross-Genre
A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a collection of poems, short stories, essays, or hybrid work. The editors...
read morePloughshares
Cash Prize: $2,000
Entry Fee: $30
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a...
read morePress 53
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $15
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Prime Number Magazine are given annually for a poem and a short story. Using only the online submission system, submit a...
read moreUrsula K. Le Guin Foundation
Cash Prize: $25,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $25,000 is given annually for a book of fiction published in the previous year that “reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to [Ursula K. Le Guin’s] own...
read moreGemini Magazine
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $10
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Fiction
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Gemini Magazine is given annually for a short story. The editors will judge. Submit a story of any length with a $10 entry fee by...
read moreTRP
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $20
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Poetry
A prize of $1,000, publication by TRP: the University Press of Sam Houston State University, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. francine j. harris...
read moreA Public Space
Cash Prize: $1,000
Entry Fee: $0
Application Deadline: 3/31/26
Genre: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Three six-month fellowships of $1,000 each are given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who “embrace risk in their work” and have not published...
read more